Pancakes, Potatoes and Pineapples, oh my!

Seeing baby animals is a distinct pleasure and whenever we visit the Bronx Zoo, we check the babies in the nursery of the reptile house. Baby turtles, tiny lizards; so very precious. At a few recent visits, we have seen a baby pancake tortoise going from newly hatched to growing baby and the reason for its name is obvious when you see it, but giggling over the name inspired me to research other funny food names of animals. So, a smorgasboard of species, a bestiary buffet, a collection of critters...

Baby Pancake Tortoise at the Bronx Zoo

Pancake Tortoise

Native to Tanzania and Kenya, they are flat as a pancake and from what I have seen, love to hide in crevices, between rocks and other flat, narrow spaces. It's the fastest of all tortoises - are pancakes known for being speedy? Part of the reason it is fast is because there are openings between the plates in its shell allowing it to be lightweight and flexible. They are also good climbers and really, really cute.

Fried Egg Jellyfish

Larger than a breakfast plate; approximately 14 inches in diameter, this underwater beauty is not harmful to humans. There is in fact a larger species, pictured here, also called the fried egg jellyfish. Jellyfish in general don't travel in groups, but at certain times of year, they collect and are then called a smack, bloom or swarm.

Lemon Shark

These sharks represent little threat to humans and are in fact considered near threatened in the IUCN conservation list, so we need to be nicer to our shark friends.

An artist I admire creates friendly shark images and her lemon shark is really cute. Check out her work at bytesizetreasure.com. Named the lemon shark for its distinctive color (yellow-ish, but not a bright lemon yellow, really), lemon sharks, interestingly give live birth and the baby grows not in an egg, but inside its mother. There are three different ways that baby sharks grow, depending on the species (in an egg sac, in an egg sac in its mother, or in its mother).

Garlic Bread Sea Cucumber

A double food name - sea cucumbers are a type of echinoderm (like starfish and sea urchins). They have little tube feet and they crawl along the sea floor. It is a bottom breather; taking in oxygen from water it sucks through its bum. There are many different colors and types of sea cucumbers. The garlic bread sea cucumber, supposedly looks to some people maybe a little bit like a loaf of garlic bread? Sadly, these critters are endangered.

Photo credit of Joel Sartore

Tomato Frog

From the wonderful island of Madagascar, the tomato frog does look like a tomato. They are red, round and when threatened, they puff up, looking even rounder! These nocturnal amphibians are not great swimmers as adults. As with many brightly colored animals, their hue is a warning that they are toxic. As a defense mechanism, the tomato frog can secrete a sticky toxin to scare off predators.

Pancake Batfish

Much like the pancake tortoise, it's just very flat. The batfish lives in the Western Atlantic Ocean and often partially buries itself in the sand and sediment as it lives in shallower parts of the ocean. It's a type of anglerfish and has a round, pancake-like shape, with a long tail. A sub-species of the pancake batfish, the Louisiana Pancake Batfish is endangered because of an oil spill in 2010.

Potato Grouper

Named for the brown potato-shaped markings, this fish does not live near Ireland or Idaho, rather it is in the coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Growing up to 6 1/2 feet in length, it can weigh up to 220 pounds but don't be scared; the potato grouper has been known to be very friendly to human divers. They are curious but also territorial. Also called the potato bass or potato cod, these fish have a interesting transformation. Some fish start out as females and turn into males later in life in a process called protogynous hermaphrodite.

Pineapplefish

This fish has many names, but for this post, we're food focused, so we call it the pineapple fish! It is also known as the: knight fish, pinecone fish, or coat-of-mail fish. It lives primarily off the coast of Western Australia, and it is nocturnal and has bioluminescent organs that help it navigate at night.

Chocolate Chip Sea Star

I have seen many sea stars at the New York Aquarium (thank you WCS!) including a chocolate chip sea star. It's adorable. There are many different types of "chocolate chip sea stars" with varied coloring and markings. The parts that look like little chocolate chips are actually little spikes to deter predators. I wonder what sea stars call each other? Most of the names are based on things in the human world (there are sunflower sea stars, crown of thorns sea stars, necklace seastars...) And, think about it, sea stars have probably never seen a star in the sky... hmm. Maybe they need a new name - could the photo we took be Curly? Spiky? Super cute many-armed aquatic adventurer?

Anyway - Chocolate Chip Sea Stars are pretty interesting.

Chocolate Dip Damselfish

More chocolate? Well, some of the fish have a chocolatey brown color, but others are darker, and they don't remind me of any type of chocolate, but the name is cute. Its also known as the two-tone chromis or two-tone damselfish. It reminds me a little bit of a black and white cookie that you can find in most NYC grocery stores and diners. But these fish live far from NYC - in the Indian Ocean, near Tanzania. They can be territorial, especially when there are eggs to protect. This tiny fish is actually only about three inches long!

Banana Slug

Native to Redwood Forests on the West Coast, banana slugs are so named due to their shape and color and they come in shades from unripe to overripe. Largest banana slugs can be 10 inches long and like other slugs (and snails), it moves along on a slime trail, using its one foot to ooch along. Banana slugs' slime is not toxic, but it is repellant; the slime can make a predator's mouth numb allowing the slug to escape. It has two sets of feelers on is head; the top set detect light and the bottom set are used to smell. The feelers can retract into its head and they can regrow the feelers if they are damaged.

Strawberry Finch

The only bird in this list, named for its bright red color, its natural habitat is India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Like other finches, the strawberry finch is delicate and small, and has a sweet voice. As with many birds, the male is more brightly colored than the female, but a somewhat unique characteristic is the beak color. The beak turns red in May and then darkens in November - December, abruptly turning black in April, before the cycle starts again. The beak color relates to the seasonal change of daylight.

A Gelae donut beetle

Gelae donut Beetle

Say it out loud - yes, pronounced like "jelly". There is a group of small beetles with very funny names - all under the same genus. They are: Gelae baen (sounding like "jelly bean"), Gelae belae ("jelly belly"), Gelae fish ("jelly fish"), Gelae rol ("jelly roll"), and two other not as silly scientific names; Gelae parvulum, and Gelae parile. Since this genus was only discovered in 2004, there are not many photos or lots of information about these fungus beetles.

Flapjack Octopus

Well, we started with the extremely cute pancake tortoise, and wanted to come full circle to another cute pancake friend. Wait, is there a johnny-cake shaped fish, or a griddle-cake colored beetle? Perhaps a hotcake-scented frog or a crepe-shaped creature? What about a crespelle critter? A palatschinken primate? A nalesniki gnat or a pannenkoeken or pfannkuchen panda or piglet?

But back to the octopus. Among the most adorable octopus species, the flapjack octopus is usually bright orange or pink in color and it can flatten itself like a pancake. Unlike many larger octopus, they can't change color so the flattening ability seems helpful for safety! Their eight arms are connected by membrane, making them a member of the umbrella octopus family.

Thanks for reading and happy vegan eating!